Hamid Akhavan told Focus, delivery problems that left customers waiting for weeks to get their hands on the new, faster version of the iPhone had been solved and that the backlog would be cleared by the end of the month.

"Our (sales) expectations were surpassed," Akhavan said in an interview to be published on Monday, adding the carrier had sold 75,000 iPhones in Germany alone.

Akahavan said distribution had hit a snag as Apple had decided to launch the iPhone in 22 countries at the same time.

The latest iPhone from Apple Inc has faster, third-generation (3G) Web connections when compared with the first iPhone that was launched in mid-2007.

But users around the world have complained about dropped calls and inconsistent Internet speeds, with the phone often reverting to a slower technology known as Edge even in 3G areas.

Last week, Apple Inc issued a software update to help fix connection problems that led to a flurry of online complaints from customers.